Casting A Film: Lessons From A Screenwriter

What's It Like To Assemble An All-Star Cast Of Comedians On Your Very Own Movie?

It's time for the second installment of my running AskMen series, in which I take an in depth look at the making of my upcoming film, Killing Hasselhoff.

To catch you up to speed, I wrote the screenplay. If you happened to read my inaugural piece, you may have noticed that the cast is kind of, well, all over the place. It's like a comedic version of The Expendables. David Hasselhoff, Ken Jeong, Jim Jefferies, Rhys Darby, Jon Lovitz, Master P, Ron Funches, Will Sasso, Kid Cudi, Hulk Hogan, Spice Girl Mel B, Justin Bieber and Police Academy's Michael Winslow?! Yes, these are just a handful of the celebrities who round out the cast. And at first glance, sure, it may seem as though someone pulled up IMDb, closed their eyes, and then just picked a handful of stars at random. Not the case. This collection of hilarious humans were carefully selected for their individual roles. And while the movie's casting director I most certainly am not, I'd love to give a bit of a back story on a few of these castings.

I've said it previously, but I'll be damned if it doesn't bear repeating - with more sincerity than you could possibly imagine, I can safely report that David Hasselhoff is the coolest motherf*cker on this or any other planet. That's not hyperbole. No, I honestly believe that David Hasselhoff is the coolest person alive. In fact, the Hoff and I were on the same page from day one. And speaking of pages, it only took one for David to attach himself to this project. Yes, after being handed the script on his 60th birthday, two words is all it took to sway the former Knight Rider star.

Those words: "Killing" and "Hasselhoff."

Yes, without having read so much as one line of dialogue, David was, in theory, down… provided the script didn't suck. Luckily, David quickly became a fan of my particular brand of literary debauchery. After signing off on a quick rewrite or two, we were off to the races. But I absolutely know for certain — I 100% implicitly believe — that without the Hoff backing this film, there would be no film.

Far before we received Hollywood's elusive green light, David Hasselhoff flew himself to Abu Dhabi with hopes of landing financing. If that's not going above and beyond, I don't know what is.

The next piece of the puzzle was landing Dr. Ken Jeong, whose inclusion in the project was through more traditional casting methods – a producer on the project was a mutual friend. However, what is noteworthy is that, just like my man Hasselhoff before him, Ken put an incomparable amount of time and energy into this, more so than I'd ever expect from a celebrity of his caliber. And this is far from Ken's first rodeo. Let's go down the list. TheHangover. Role Models. Knocked Up. Despicable Me. Community. Ken's face has been continuously plastered all over television screens for years. The guy is a bona fide star. He could have theoretically phoned it in. But what I saw on that set wasn't a Hollywood star doing the bare minimum. In fact, it was the polar opposite. What I witnessed first hand was the work ethic that landed Ken Jeong his Ph.D. Ken was on set every single day, helping out with scenes he wasn't even in. First to arrive, last to leave. It was inspiring, really. Men with his credits could easily coast, but those who land such envious roles are the caliber of human being who'd never do so.

At this point, Ken has just as much, if not more, invested in this project than I do.

#KillingHasselhoff has been one of the most amazing experiences of my career. Very grateful.